January 10, 2008 6:20

That Kerry Endorsement

Posted by Karen Tumulty | Comments (78) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

The Washington Post sees former Democratic nominee John Kerry's endorsement of Barack Obama as a setback for his 2004 running mate John Edwards. But a source close to Kerry tells me that the person who had been working hardest to get it was Hillary Clinton--to the point where her husband had personally lobbied Kerry's brother Cam and his former brother-in-law David Thorne.

Kerry has never been particularly close to the Clintons. He thought they could have done far more to help him in 2004, and hasn't forgotten that Hillary Clinton was one of the first to criticize him over what he called a "botched joke" about U.S. troops in Iraq in 2006. (This, of course, was when Kerry was still considered a contender to be running against Clinton in 2008.) It helped, too, that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is supporting Obama, and that much of Kerry's fundraising network has already migrated to the Obama campaign.

What's Kerry's endorsement worth? The significance of these things with voters tend to be overplayed, and Kerry's own performance in 2004 has devalued his stock with the Democratic Party. But it does lend some establishment cred to the Obama operation. And Kerry still has the remnants of an organization in the primary states, as well as an enormous e-mail list.

Sphere Related Blogs & Articles

Reader Comments (78)

QUESTION HILLARY tm

"What's Kerry's endorsement worth?"

Who?

Posted by QUESTION HILLARY tm | January 10, 2008 6:44 PM

Elvis Elvisberg

The significance of these things with voters tend to be overplayed... But it does lend some establishment cred to the Obama operation.

Y'know, I just had this conversation with a friend, and we came to the same conclusion. What we wondered was if there was anything specific as to personnel going on here, with any policy implications. Are there some Kerry campaign characters who are as infamous and reviled as, say, Michael O'Hanlon, who will now make their way into he Obama camp?

If not, this seems like it measures close to zero on the "real world impact" meter.

Now, if Gore endorsed someone...

Posted by Elvis Elvisberg | January 10, 2008 6:50 PM

QUESTION HILLARY tm

I thought John John was going to ski-dawdle over to Lower Belgium with Babs, Cindy, Howard The SKI TIPS UP Coward, Alexi Ballsless, and the other usual Lame America First suspects, after 43 was re-elected?

More lies.

Enjoy some truth...

moveamericaforward.org

Posted by QUESTION HILLARY tm | January 10, 2008 6:57 PM

Aaron:

What, no "Is there room in Washington for both a Senator Kerry and a President Hillary?"

QH: "I thought"

Sorry, John Birch, but you didn't. Your mistake.

Posted by Aaron | January 10, 2008 7:25 PM

Paul Dirks

"What's Kerry's endorsement worth?"

The coverage on CNN I saw (in line at the bank) seemed to indicate that if nothing else, access to his Rolodex might be a valuable perk.

Posted by Paul Dirks | January 10, 2008 7:45 PM

jskdn:

Along with the Joe Klein endorsement. Joe is cited in the latest Obama ad as having described Obama with the phrase "scrupulous honesty." It's an ad that could be right out of Hollywood with an emotional soundtrack that builds to a crescendo.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid353515028/bctid1372185507

Posted by jskdn | January 10, 2008 8:01 PM

Robert Beswick:

I'm with Elvisberg. Gore's endorsement (if he makes one) is going to be the really fun one to watch.

One can only guess what the state of his relationship with Clintons is like in private, so their could some personal soap opera in that decision. In the end though I expect he'll probably make a cerebral decision based on who he thinks will do most for his big issue.

Kerry's endorsement is, well, not a big deal. But on balance it probably helps Obama.

Posted by Robert Beswick | January 10, 2008 8:27 PM

Karen Tumulty:

KT here--

Gore's endorsement is the subject of a lot of speculation here in the--ahem--village. After what happened with Dean in 2004, the people I talk to who claim to talk to Gore say he is very leery of jumping in too early again. The assumption is that his heart is with Obama, particularly given the strains there have been in his relations with the Clintons (lots of recriminations back and forth after 2000) and particularly the sibling-like rivalry he had with Hillary in the Clinton White House.

Posted by Karen Tumulty | January 10, 2008 8:42 PM

RKA

I think it is a mixed blessing, but net positive

The good parts: the rolodex, the cred it gives to an insurgent, a useful surrogate, a superdelegate vote.

The not-as-good part: Dem voters tend not to look kindly on their unsuccessful nominees. But, hey, at least Kerry did better than Mondale and McGovern who are backing HIllary!

But a net plus. I don't think most endorsements make a huge difference. AS much as I like Al Gore, I don't now that even his endorsement would make a hige difference.

I think that given the fact that this race is going to probably devole into an identity politics foodfight, the endorsement of an eminent female elected official would be the most electorally useful for Obama. Maybe Barbara Boxer could help in california?

But the main benefit of this is now is to change the subject a bit from HIllary as comeback kid.

Posted by RKA | January 10, 2008 8:46 PM

Robert Beswick:

KT,

Thanks for the feedback on the Gore endoresment. I assume "sibling like rivalry" is your polite way of describing a series of full on, crockery throwing, fights?

Posted by Robert Beswick | January 10, 2008 8:48 PM

Karen Tumulty:

KT here again--

No, it wasn't like that. Believe it or not, it started with things like--gulp!--policy. Well, sort of. Gore, from what I've been told, believed that the way Hillary handled health care, and the fact that it was the first thing the Administration pursued, made it harder to make much progress on a lot of the things that were his priority issues, and overshadowed some of the Administration accomplishments, like his pet project, reinventing government. Then there was Monica. Gore thinks it cost him the election; Hillary told people afterward that he would have won if he had run more as Clinton's legatee. Also, Gore believes that Hillary's decision to run for the Senate in 2000 diverted time and resources from his race, and ...

Well, these are things that people write books about, not blog posts.

Posted by Karen Tumulty | January 10, 2008 8:54 PM

yo la tengo:

Hey - I thought Obama was the change guy and uh Kerry not so much....

meet the new boss
same as the old boss

Posted by yo la tengo | January 10, 2008 9:21 PM

Paul Dirks

Well, these are things that people write books about, not blog posts.

Be sure to let us know when your ready to solicit title suggestions.....

In the meantime, I appreciate the fact that you not only interact in the comments but that you seem to take some of the sentiment expressed there to heart.

Don't think that the references to the "Village" or "gulp!--policy" go unnoticed.

Posted by Paul Dirks | January 10, 2008 9:21 PM

Robert Beswick:

Thanks again KT for responding. Paul, I think, was hinting that I might have leapt too quickly in the soap opera direction on the sibling rivalry thing. No so. I may have overreached a little in search of comedy but I was genuinely asking because I didn't know.

I do have a concern with organisational dysfunction as a result of intemperate behaviour. Which Bill has always had a more public problem with than Hillary. George Stephanolpoulos' description in his book of Bill's "morning roar" and how he felt it was part of his job to just stand there and take it, was, well, just plain sad. Reminds me of a CEO I used to work for. Shudder. (I'm better now and you can hardly notice the twitch unless the weather's damp.)

Posted by Robert Beswick | January 10, 2008 10:07 PM

Elvis Elvisberg

Thanks, Karen.

I agree with every word that Paul Dirks wrote.

Posted by Elvis Elvisberg | January 10, 2008 10:11 PM

mediasux:

I don't think that the Kerry endorsement has any impact at all--except get Kerry some love from the Obamaniacs. If Obama doesn't have everyone's phone number by now, well, lets just say that he's had a year, and his inability to get what he needs from people doesn't exactly inspire "hope" that he can get anything done from the White House.

As for gore, he's not gonna endorse Hillary, because they don't share an agenda, and he's not gonna endorse Obama because nothing suggests that he could actually accomplish Gore's agenda. He would endorse Edwards -- because Edwards understand that achieving change against entrenched special interests is gonna take more than a rousing chorus of Kumbayah while cooking s'mores over a big campfire -- but won't until Edwards actually wins something.

And Gore's decision to endorse has nothing to do with the Dean endorsement -- its not like the guy he didn't endorse actually got the job done -- and the Dean endorsement was one of the key moves that lead to the restoration of his credibility.

Posted by mediasux | January 10, 2008 11:38 PM

BG:

Structurally it gives Obama a voter file and a rolodex. By the way, that general election voter file could be very valuable in identifying independents in the open primary states. From a media standpoint it limits the Hillary comeback story to 24 hours and makes Obama the focus again.

Posted by BG | January 10, 2008 11:40 PM

mediasux:

first off, I don't think (not positive, tho) that the general election campaign lists are Kerry's to give. Those would be with the DNC.

As to your second point -- you may be right. But since, as far as media attention goes, under ordinary circumstances Kerry couldn't get laid in a whorehouse, if this gets a lot of coverage, and distracts from Hillary's victory in NH, you'll know just how much the media despises Clinton.

Posted by mediasux | January 11, 2008 12:09 AM

Dave:

i agree with MG on the media cycle. today obama made news, and richardson made news. nothing new out of the hillary camp.

Posted by Dave | January 11, 2008 1:44 AM

bloggod

kerry's kiss is like a rotting massachooseits albatrass hung around the gaffe.

gary hart anyone?

Posted by bloggod | January 11, 2008 2:14 AM

zelduh:

I am sure that Kerry hurt Hillary's feelings by endorsing Obama.

Karen, you know too many people that are actually engaged in the political process. There are some Democrats in middle America (lots, actually) who rarely read a newspaper - and who only get their news at 6 pm from ABC, CBS or NBC.

Example: When I ran into my uninvolved neighbor this evening, she said that she was surprised that Kerry did not support Hillary. "There must be something wrong with Hillary," she said.

Now there's the value to Obama.

A Gore endorsement, though, would be absolutely HUGE (IMHO.)

Posted by zelduh | January 11, 2008 3:42 AM

mediasux:

Example: When I ran into my uninvolved neighbor this evening, she said that she was surprised that Kerry did not support Hillary. "There must be something wrong with Hillary," she said.

does anyone else think that if the media had not ignored Edwards, that this voter would have said she was "surprised that Kerry did not endorse Edwards...?"

Posted by mediasux | January 11, 2008 8:31 AM

Poindexter:

Mightn't you have endorsed Obama ahead of the primary in your neighboring state, Sen. Kerry? I see your political instincts haven't exactly sharpened since the last election!

Posted by Poindexter | January 11, 2008 9:01 AM

jayackroyd

Again Chris Bowers at openleft is on the case, although he's using these numbers in a different context:

Bowers cites a study at openleft showing that in NH Kerry voters were Clinton voters:

Clinton
.73 Kerry
.66 Lieberman
.18 Clark
.12 Edwards '04
-.05 Dean

Obama
.93 Dean
.45 Clark
.38 Edwards '04
.15 Lieberman
.09 Kerry

Those are regression coefficients. Bigger numbers mean more likelihood to vote for the 08 candidate.

Picking up the Kerry endorsement, and, presumably, access to his mailing lists will allow Obama to reach likely Clinton voters, and for those voters to hear the Obama message.

Posted by jayackroyd | January 11, 2008 10:16 AM

mediasux:

Picking up the Kerry endorsement, and, presumably, access to his mailing lists will allow Obama to reach likely Clinton voters, and for those voters to hear the Obama message.

voters have already heard Obama's message. Indeed, the idea of Kerry carrying Obama's message to his former supporters may well be counter-productive, because if John Kerry represents anything to his former supporters, (and Democrats in general) its dasked expectations -- and Obama is about raising people's expectations.

Posted by mediasux | January 11, 2008 10:59 AM

RKA

I disagree that a lot of voters have really heard a lot about Obama's message. As we moved towards feb 5th, most casual voters impresions of all the candidates are based either on past knowledge fromprior campaigns (i.e. Clinton and Edwards) or Villager impressions. They have not really focused yet the way early staters have done so.

Like I said before, I think this is a small net plus for him. Not huge, but not anything bad either.

I wonder if the coming endorsement of Janet Napalatano may be more useful, however. After NH and the re-emergence of gender triablism as an organizing primary principle, I think Obama could benefit from a female governor's endorsment and this might help in neighboring Nevada next saurday and in Southern Ca and Arizona on Feb 5th.

Posted by RKA | January 11, 2008 11:13 AM

mediasux:

RKA...
IMHO, endorsements only matter when the endorser is an opinion leader. Oprah's endorsement of Obama was huge because tens of millions of people who knew little or nothing about Obama decided that he is someone that they should seriously consider. Kerry, on the other hand, isn't an opinion leader (anyone who follows politics closely enough to care about Kerry's opinion has already been looking at the candidates.)

**************
apropos of nothing, but I gotta feel sorry for KT right now. She managed to get that interview with Clinton despite Clinton's legendary wariness about the press, and Time turns right around and gets Karen Hughes to write a viewpoint piece that trashes Hillary. In fact, if you go to the Time website right now, "Hillary" is mentioned in the rotating featured "Top Five Stories" -- but its an obituary for Sir Edmund Hillary.

And when you scroll down, Karen's interview is way down the list of "Hillary" stories --- behind the main election story, Haren Hughes trashing of Hillary, Joe Klein self-serving nonsense, and Dahlia Lithwick's 'sexual politics' take on Hillary crying. Haren gets an extended, exclusive interview with the front-runner, and Time isn't even promoting it (they don't even mention that it IS an interview).

Now, I think it obvious that I wasn't a fan of Karen's interview.... but that isn't the point. Time has decided that the opinion of Karen Hughes, Joe Klein, and Dahlia Lithwick are MORE IMPORTANT for people to read than Hillary's own words. Why should Hillary ever grant Karen (or anyone else at Time) an exclusive interview when its going to get this kind of treatment?

Posted by mediasux | January 11, 2008 12:13 PM

annevilla:

"OBAMA PORTRAIT MUSIC VIDEO" on Youtube - Don't Miss It!

For those of you who still have not heard:

There is a WONDERFUL and INSPIRING music video on Youtube.com entitled "Obama Portrait Music Video by Bjarne O."
You can use the free downloaded high-quality stereo version from the composer's website in DVD form to show at house parties and fundraisers. Even people who knew nothing at all about Obama have been moved: either a thrilling introduction, or further inspiration for those of us who already know and fight for Obama.
The music soundtrack, which incorporates excerpts from the famous 2004 speech, can also be downloaded separately in high-quality.

It is an uplifting and informative campaign tool - so please, SPREAD THE WORD!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mCPwbozpIzM

YES WE CAN

Anne

Posted by annevilla | January 11, 2008 2:37 PM

hamada:

العاب اطفالالعاب اطفال جميلة اجمل العاب الأطفال الفلاش العاب فلاش اطفال
العاب سياراتالعاب سيارات العاب سيارات فلاش جميلة عالم المغامرة والسباق والتحدي
العاب رياضيةالعاب رياضية العاب رياضة كرة قدم وتنس والعاب قوي عالم الألعاب الرياضية فلاش
العاب جميلة العاب جميلة جدا روعة العاب جميلة فلاش العاب فلاش جميلة
العاب كرتون نتوركالعاب كرتون نتورك اجمل العاب افلام الكرتون نتورك العاب فلاش كرتونية
العاب كمبيوترالعاب كمبيوتر فلاش العاب الكمبيوتر روعة اجمل العاب الكمبيوتر منتدي العاب
العاب اكس بوكسالعاب اكس بوكس اجمل العاب اكس بوكس العاب روعة اكس بوكس
العاب اكشنالعاب اكشن جديدة العاب اكشن فلاش مغامرات وقتال العاب فلاش
العاب قتالالعاب قتال خطيرة روعة العاب قتل وقتال فلاش
العاب حربيةالعاب حربية العاب حرب العاب قتال حرب العاب فلاش
العاب ذكاءالعاب ذكاء جميلة قم بالتحدي العاب ذكاء تحتاج الي التركيز الشديد اجمل العاب ذكاء
العاب ديزنيالعاب ديزني عالم والت ديزني العاب فلاش العاب كرتون ديزني
العاب بلاي ستيشنالعاب بلاي ستيشن العاب بلاي ستيشن روعة تمتع بأجمل العاب بلاي ستيشن
العاب نايتندو ويالعاب نايتندو وي اجمل العاب نايتندو وي جميلة تمتع بألعاب نايتندو وي
العاب ديكورالعاب ديكور جديدة العاب ديكور البنات اجمل العاب ديكور
العاب باربيالعاب باربي البنت الجميلة باربي العاب فلاش باربي اجمل العاب باربي
العاب مكياجالعاب مكياج اجمل العاب مكياج بنات تزيين بنات روعة
العاب طبخالعاب طبخ العاب فلاش طبخ طهي العاب روعة فلاش

Posted by hamada | June 19, 2008 12:42 AM

منتديات-دردشة
كتابية--صور
قلوب-صور طبيعية-صور
متحركة-شات
الغلا-منتديات الغلا-تحميل
العاب-برامج-كتب
مجانية-برامج جوال-مقاطع
بلوتوث-مسجات-نغمات
نوكيا-ثيمات-العاب
جوال-دروس فوتوشوب-هكر-صور-صور
انمي-اخبار الفن-صور
فنانات-افلام-افلام
اجنبية-اناشيد
اسلامية-صور
سيارات-كاس امم اوروبا-تحميل
اهداف-محمد-سياحة
وسفر-منتديات
عامة-كاريكاتير-نكت-الغاز-خواطر-قصائد--حكايات-اساطير-روايات-حكم
وامثال-فساتين-منتديات
عروس-حلويات-اطفال-الطب
البديل-علم
النفس-مركز
تحميل الصور-دليل
المواقع العربية-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-برق-19-p1-p2-p3-p4-78-71-20-21-59-60-58-61-67-53-56-9-a9-a1-a8-a12--a15-a16-a18-ماسنجر-صور
بنات-51-26-a-b-c-d-e-e-f-g-h-j-l-29-43-47-13-6-dd-p18-f8-12-62-65-49l-f11-f86-مسجات
حب-مسجات عتاب-مسجات
شوق-صور ماسنجر-مسجات حلوة-صور
حب-صور بنات-شات
بنات-شات
الود-اغاني هيفاء وهبي-دردشة
بنت السعودية-عمرو خالد-ناصر
الفراعنة-صور نانسي عجرم-ياسر
القحطاني-دردشة
الشلة-نغمات-قصص-تامر حسني-العاب-طرب
توب-اوز-دردشة
اماراتية-شات اماراتي-دردشة
قطر-دردشة بحرينية-شات
قطر-شات البحرين-دردشة
لبنانية-شات
بنات-دردشة
اردنية-شات اردني-شات
عراقي-دردشة
عراقية-دردشة
سورية-شات سوري-شات
كويتي-دردشة كويتية
-ترافيان
-صور لميس-اناشيد
العفاسي
-صحيح البخاري-صحيح
مسلم-هيفاء وهبي-سنوات
الضياع-مسلسل نور-صور
اطفال-صور تامر حسني-صور
اليسا-صور مضحكة-صور
رمزية-صور ترحيب-صور
نانسي عجرم-صور حسام الرسام-صور
حزن-صور مهند-صور
نادرة-صور بنوتات-صور
للمسن-لعبة باربي-لعبة
الجاسوسات-شات
سعودي

Posted by b | July 10, 2008 8:43 PM

theask:

Mightn't you have endorsed Obama ahead of the primary in your neighboring state, Sen. Kerry? I see your political instincts haven't exactly sharpened since the last election! Youtube

Posted by theask | July 14, 2008 10:04 AM

goldstonesoft:

M4V Converter free download center- ALL M4V conversion tools which help you feel free to convert M4V to MP3, AVI, WMV, MPEG, FLV, 3GP, WMA. And useful Guide on How to Deal with M4V files.
m4v converter
convert m4v
Ultra Quicktime M4V converter currently is the best M4V converter which can convert Quicktime movie M4V to AVI, MPEG, MP4, MPG, WMV, ASF and Vob. As we know Quicktime movie usually has the video formats of M4V, MOV, QT, MP4, and M4V, With this M4V Converter, you can feel free to Convert them all with fast speed and high output quality.
m4v to avi
m4v to wmv
With the fast and powerful QuickTime video decoder inside, Ultra QuickTime M4V Converter supports almost all MOV, QT, MP4, M4V files, even QuickTime Player has not been installed. Integrated High-speed MPEG-2 encoder which let you convert M4V to DVD-Video files(VIDEO_TS, AUDIO_TS) and VCD/SVCD image(*.bin,*.cue), so you can burn VCD/SVCD/DVD disc easily from QuickTime files by using third-party buring tools. It is a software program for converting video formats at fast speeds and high quality. Very user-friendly interface and Quality Profiles.
m4v to mpeg
m4v to mp4